What ISO Is Too High? A Real Noise Comparison From ISO 3200 to 12800

Not very long ago, increasing ISO beyond even 2500 on your DSLR felt like giving up something precious, like a part of your reputation, in return for getting a shot. Yup, I've felt this way many times when having to embrace horrible grain at the cost of capturing a moment felt like I would be slandered later on for having so much digital noise in it. Colors fell apart and the texture, or lack of it, seemed like something out of an amateur's oil painting on canvas. But modern cameras have...